


Somewhere we belong

by MarinaNina



Series: Everyone needs some hugs [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, BAMF Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto), Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Child Abuse, Hatake Kakashi is a Good Teacher, Shiranui Genma is Kakashi's favorite person, Strong Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke Needs a Hug, Uzumaki Naruto is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:33:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27117538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarinaNina/pseuds/MarinaNina
Summary: Genma and Kakashi have been living together for two years, their relationship is finally stable. When Genma got hurt on a mission and is looking at a long recover that includes months of bed rest, Sandaime makes a proposal to the Hatake: He can stay in the village and take care of his boyfriend, but he needs to tutor three academy students.Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke were in their final year at the academy, and now were pushed to take tutoring lessons from a weird Jounin with silver hair. They don't know what to make of their teacher or what to make of each other.Gemma is just happy to be home.
Relationships: Gekkou Hayate/Uzuki Yuugao, Haruno Sakura & Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi & Maito Gai | Might Guy, Hatake Kakashi & Uzuki Yuugao, Hatake Kakashi & Yamato | Tenzou, Hatake Kakashi/Shiranui Genma, Shimurai Genma & Gekko Hayate & Yamashiro Aoba & Namiashi Raido
Series: Everyone needs some hugs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1979362
Comments: 13
Kudos: 123





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing

** Genma  ** woke up feeling warm and familiar hands softly rub his back up and down along his spine. Without opening his eyes he let out a noise of contempt and buried his face deeper in his boyfriend’s neck. “Is it morning already?” He moaned.

“Yeah. I would let you sleep, but you’ll be late.”

“I know” He finally blinked his eyes open and kissed the shoulder he was leaning on. “Not that you care much for punctuality” He gave Kakashi a look and the silver-haired man just laughed.

“You care” He answered simply, making Genma smile. He leaned in to kiss his boyfriend’s cheek and stood up, making his way to the bathroom.

“You know, you’re supposed to be at this meeting too,” Genma said as he walked off to his shower, not bothering to stay for an answer. When he came out of the bathroom, Kakashi had made breakfast.

“I think,” Genma spoke as he sat down “I’m going to pass drinks today. I’m exhausted.”

“You sure?” Kakashi frowned “It’s Kurenai’s birthday”

“Shit” Genma sighed “I have to go”

“Let’s stop by. I’ll come home with you early” the Hatake said, taking his tea to his lips.

“You don’t have to. Stick around and have fun.” 

"I would rather stay home” The Hatake admitted and Genma smiled at his response. He knew Kakashi didn’t like to spend too much time in large groups of people, so he nodded. They ate in silence after that and did the dishes together.

“So I’ll meet you at the bar?” he asked, handing him a plate to dry.

“Yeah... I’ll get there early enough that we don’t have to stay too long”

“It’s fine.” He had promised himself to embrace Kakashi’s lateness at the beginning of their relationship, never asking him to be on time. In return, Kakashi never made him wait for more than a few minutes. It was an unspoken arrangement between the two.

“I’m going then, Jounin meeting starts in 15 minutes.”

“I’ll be there.” Genma beamed and placed his arms around his boyfriend’s neck “Sure you will” He tipped in to kiss Kakashi’s lips.

* * *

  
“Your boy-toy failed another team.” Raido stated as they walked together to their shift on the village’s border “How long you imagine Sandaime will let him get away with that?”

“First, he’s not my boy-toy Raido” Genma took the senbon from his lips and started twisting it between his two fingers, “We’ve been living together for two years.”

“That long already?” His friend smiled, and Genma allowed himself to smile back “Seems like it was yesterday you were brooding because Hatake didn’t want a serious relationship.” Genma rolled his eyes and put his Senbon back in between his lips.

“That was not yesterday Raido. It was... almost 10 years ago. We were both kids”

“Aaah yes. Kids and emotionally constipated” Genma turned his eyes but didn’t argue Raido’s point. The first four years of his relationship with Kakashi had been complicated.

“In any case, about the Sandaime thing. I don’t know. Hokage-sama doesn’t seem upset over it” Raido snorted.

“He is Hatake Kakashi” Genma inclined his head. They climbed up the observation tower together ready to take over. Inside the tower, there was Anko, who Genma considered to be the craziest Special Jounin in Konoha. And Shion, who was a quiet weapon's specialist who never talked much. But everyone liked him.

As they entered, Anko looked up and groaned“Thank Kami”

“Good morning to you too Anko” Genma answered.

“Don’t be mean Anko” Shion said, he was finishing up their paperwork at a corner.

“Anko is always mean” Raido answered before she could “Is part of her charm” he smirked, and she grinned.

“I can always be meaner or less mean. I would watch out if I were you” Shion rolled his eyes at Genma, who merely smirked.

“You’ll be at Kurenai?” he asked, changing the subject as the weapons specialist stood with their report completed “Yes” Anko replied as she made her way to the little exit.

“I can’t. I’ll leave on a mission tonight” was Shion's reply

“And they gave you a night shift? That sucks”

“Is just a C-rank” He dismissed “They are sending a Jounin team because the client requested and paid extra, but we’re not anticipating trouble”

“Even so,” Raido said as he and Anko started to leave “Get some rest”

“Will do”

“Later, losers” Anko shouted as she jumped down to the ground 

“She’s an interesting one” Raido commented as they settled down for the next hours.

“How interesting?” Genma raised an eyebrow and watched amused as his friend blushed.

“It’s not like that. She would eat me alive.”

“Maybe you’re into that” Raido punched him in the shoulder and Genma chuckled, moving away “But you should ask her out man. I mean... you never know. And she’s cool” Raido nodded as if considering.

“I might.”

* * *

  
After his shift with Raido, and some time in the training grounds, Genma went home to have a shower. He left for Kurenai’s birthday early, making sure to buy some flowers at the Yamanaka store, just because.

“Genma!” His friend spotted him right away “Over here” 

He presented Kurenai with the flowers and she smiled, blushing a bit

“Happy Birthday”

“Thank you.” She accepted the flowers and gave him a side hug “And thank you for coming. I know you’ve been a bit overworked lately”

“It’s no trouble. I’m going to leave early, however, mission tomorrow. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise. It’s fine.” Just then, Asuma walked into the bar and he watched her face shift to a brighter símile.

“Go ahead, I’m going to say hello to Raido” She smiled and left to greet her boyfriend.

“Hey” Raido nodded back at him “You’re drinking?” He asked his friend with a frown

“No, don’t want to risk a hangover tomorrow. This is just Sparkling water” Genma nodded

“I’ve been thinking...”

“Don’t injure yourself” Raido punched him lightly.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said” Genma raised an eyebrow “About... Anko”

“You’re going to ask her out?”

“... Perhaps? I mean...” Raido shifted his weight from side to side, and Genma rolled his eyes, Raido wasn't afraid to fight missing nin but he was nervous to ask Anko out.

“Invite her to lunch before our mission.”

“You think so?” Genma nodded “She’s here. I saw her talking with Ibiki when I arrived” Genma pointed in Anko’s general direction and Raido sighed but nodded. Genma leaned backwards on the wall for a second, eyes searching for another familiar face as his friend walked off. The bar was crowded, and he actually knew everyone present. However, he had yet to spot the person he was looking for. 'He said he wouldn't be to late...'

“Can I pay you a drink?” A familiar voice asked. Genma turned smirking to his boyfriend.

“Hnnn I don’t know. What are your intentions with me?” Kakashi approached more to speak near his ear, sending a shudder through Genma’s body.

“I have the best intentions” Genma leaned back a bit so he could give an equally provocative answer, but they were interrupted.

“It’s way too early for this level o Level of PDA”

“Hello to you too Asuma” Genma grunted as Kakashi left his personal space “If you think this is a PDA you have to go out more” Asuma snorted.

“You two want a drink?”

“Can’t” He spoke and took his senbon between his two fingers twisting it “Mission tomorrow”

“Hatake?”

“I have a mission too" His boyfriend answered, and Genma frowned. Kakashi was only supposed to be back on missions in the next week.

“Ah too bad. You failed another team hn?” Asuma kept the conversation going as Genma's mind raced to Kakashi's latest injury.

“They didn’t pass my test” Kakashi had been getting more and more S-ranks lately, and he often came back home sporting a bright new injury.

“Maybe you have high standards?” Asuma asked, and he decided to intervene.

“Of course he does, he’s dating me” The Sarutobi rolled his eyes, and Kakashi just eye smiled.

“I’m going to see if Kurenai needs me for something” They nodded to Asuma as the Jounin walked off.

“You’re not supposed to be taking missions” Genma accused, and Kakashi sighed.

“I’ll be okay. I’m going to have a good squad with me, and we’re not expecting to much combat.” it was Genma's time to sigh, there was no arguing with Kakashi over this.

“When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow night. And you?”

“I’m reporting in at 1400. Likely will leave around that time” Kakashi nodded, before they changed the subject Genma decided to add “Be careful?”

“I will if you do too”

* * *

**Kakashi** tried to take a deep breath as he watched Genma on the hospital bed. His exposed skin was a mix of bruises and cuts. There were monitors all around him, and the Hatake didn’t need to talk with the doctors to know what happened. But a physician was already walking in to inform him of his boyfriend’s injuries.

“Hatake-san” a short woman with dark blue hair spoke softly “I’m Akihiko Tsumi, one of Shimurai-San’s doctors” Kakashi nodded at her, not removing his eyes from Genma “He’s been in the hospital since yesterday, Maito-san was here with him most of the time, he stepped out to visit the other three just now”

“They were genin teammates.” Kakashi answered “How is he?”

“He has multiple fractures, but none of those were on his spine thankfully” Kakashi nodded “It appears that they made him swallow a few senbon. We did an emergency surgery and took it all off. But that made him suffer some internal damage.” He breathed in and out slowly, fleshes of Genma smiling with his Senbon between his teeth in his mind

“We healed some of the damage, but some of the bleeding will have to be healed naturally” Kakashi cringed a bit but nodded “Nevertheless, the real problem is that he damaged the chakra pathways on his left leg. It will require time to heal”

“You know when he’ll wake?”

“Maybe in the morning” She sighed “We experienced a few close calls with him Hatake-san. The fact that he’s stable is a good sign”

Kakashi approached Genma and took his hand. He had just come back from his own mission, there was blood on his uniform and he was almost chakra exhausted, but he settled down there anyway. Usually, he was the one on the hospital bad, and seeing Genma there was just disturbing.

* * *

“Sempai” Yuugao called entering the room, arms full “How is he doing?”

“Stable enough” Kakashi answered looking at her “He might wake up in the morning. How is Hayate?”

“He’s fine. He only broke a few ribs and had some mild chakra exhaustion from carrying both Genma and Aoba back”

“That’s good”

“He’s worried about Genma. Raido still is passed out, from blood loss, but looks like he'll be fine soon. Aoba is already awake.” Kakashi looked from her face to Genma and just nodded, happy that the other three wins were fine, but worried about his boyfriend “I broke into your place” She continued, drawing his attention back as she handed him a bag.

“Go have a shower and change. Leave your shirt off, I can see the blood coming out of your left arm, let me fix you up. I’ll sit with him” Kakashi sighed, but stood letting go of Genma’s hand. 

Yuugao mended Kakashi's wound and soon he was dressed in a clean uniform and freshly showered. “I picked up the paperwork for you. Notification of arrival/report delays and a request of leave of absence”

“Thank you Yuugao,” he said, noting that she had already filed his information in, so he just wrote down the number of his mission and signed both documents

“It’s nothing Sempai. I’ll go file this for you. You may repay me by eating this protein bar” Kakashi rolled his eye but took the protein bar “I’m going to pick Hayate tomorrow he’s being released. We’ll bring you breakfast, ”

“You don’t have...”

“I want to” She smiled, and for a second Kakashi saw her when they first met. She was 15, bright-eyed, and very sharp. Yugao ended up becoming a tight friend. They didn’t go out together often, but they did go out of their way to help each other.

* * *

Contrary to the doctor’s prediction, Genma did not wake the next morning. Early afternoon found Kakashi pretending to read his book as he sat on the floor of Genma’s room, Yugao and Hayate having just departed.

“Sempai” Tenzo called walking inside “How is he?”

“He’s stable. But he was supposed to wake up this morning” Kakashi sighed deeply “They are beginning to look at the possibility of brain damage”

“It’s early” Tenzo answered, sliding so he could sit by Kakashi’s side “Genma is a fighter” Kakashi snorted and set his book on the floor leaning his head to the wall and shutting his eye. “He is” They didn’t speak, Tenzo stayed there with him the entire afternoon. A reminder that he was not alone, that Genma was not alone.

It was around 1900 when they both felt a familiar chakra signature approach “I’ll get us both some dinner” His friend said, “You feel okay about Ramen?” Kakashi nodded and Tenzo jumped out of the window. The Hatake stood as Sandaime-sama walked inside Genma’s hospital room. 

“No need to stand Kakashi-kun” Sandaime smiled as he drew near the bed, Kakashi followed Sarutobi’s eyes to Genma's sleeping form. “I’ve heard the doctors reports. They are hoping he’ll be awake soon” Kakashi nodded.

“Inuzuka-kun reported your mission as a success. Is there anything you would like to add, that might not be in her report?”

“Yes, sir” Kakashi answered, the direct circumstance with the Hokage bringing him back to focus “A group of Sand ninja fishing for missions along the border. I don’t reckon the others noted, they were good infiltrators. But again, they would have to be if they were sent to redirect missions inside our territory”

“That’s...” Sandaime looked out of the window narrowing his eyes “I’ll investigate this. Well done Kakashi-kun”

“Thank you Sandaime-sama”

“Is there anything else?”

“You asked me to keep an eye on Hyuuga Katsuki who is a likely candidate for Jounin promotion”

“Yes yes! The Chunin on your team. How did they do?”

“Well. My professional opinion is that they are ready to be promoted.”

“I’m glad them.” Sandaime smiled and Kakashi inclined his head.

“I received your request for leave due to Genma’s situation” Kakashi held his breath “Of course it’s granted Kakashi... You served for 20 years and never had a vacation, you think I would block your leaving due to medical reasons?”

“Thank you, sir”

“I noticed you asked for the standard 1 month time. Yet, the doctors expect Genma-kun to need help for more time than that.” Kakashi nodded. “I have a proposal for you. After your one month is over I mean, that’s already granted. We just had a meeting to discuss the next Genin branch, and we paired together three students as Team 7. If the three graduate next year they will be a Team.” He had a bad feeling about this, Sarutobi had been desiring to push a team his way since he left AMBU.

“You can stay in Konoha until Genma-kun is back on active duty” Sandaime proposed “However, once your first month is over you get to tutor the future team 7. They are... well, we think they fit well together, but the three need some individual attention.”

“And then I have to take them as a team?” He asked the Hokage “You get to test them”. Kakashi sighed. He didn’t want this, but looking at Genma’s slow breathing and bruised skin and knowing first hand how hard it was to recover the aftermath of torture...

“I’ll do it”

* * *

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay the night with him?” Tenzo asked “I’ll find you if something change”

“I might take you up on that after he wakes up” Kakashi admitted “Right now I want to be here” His friend nodded

“I’ll come by tomorrow. Do you need more clean clothes?”

“No, Yuugao packed a few for me” Tenzo placed a hand in his left shoulder and squeezed “Raido and Aoba tried to sneak out to visit him today, but the nurses got them. Mind if I bring them tomorrow?”

“Of course not. I’ve been intending to see them both...”

“They understand” Tenzo smiled a bit “Rest captain”

“Not your captain anymore Kohai”

After his friend left Kakashi walked back to Genma’s side and brushed the hair from his forehead softly. “Hey Genma,” He said bringing his hand to the side of the older man’s face “I’m here.”

* * *

To everyone’s relief, Genma did wake up the following day, even if he had only stayed awake for a few minutes it had been enough for the doctors to conclude there was no brain damage. Soon Kakashi’s month was over, and he had asked Gai to spend the afternoon with his boyfriend in the hospital.

“If Hokage-sama knew all he needed to make to make you take a team was knock me out a bit, he would have done sooner” Kakashi rolled his visible eye, “I’m not even going to address the first part of this statement” he answered making Genma laugh “As for the rest, I’m not taking a team. I’m tutoring”

“Whatever you say” He rolled his eyes again and pulled his mask down, leaning in to kiss his boyfriend softly “Gai is going to be here in half an hour. I could wait”

“How late are you already?”

“One hour” Genma laughed

“It’s all right. I could use some time to myself” Kakashi nodded and gave him another kiss. Like him, Genma enjoyed the privacy, and he was attempting to give him some space whenever he could. The entire recovery process was already uncomfortable enough without his boyfriend feeling crowded.

He could hear the kids arguing with each other from outside the Academy

Haruno Sakura, he remembered as he arrived at the correct floor: Booksmart, good chakra control, anger management problems, and civilian parents. Which implied that she had no one to realize that her teammates were magnets for trouble.

He stood outside the classroom, Uchiha Sasuke: Talented, balanced ninja, superiority complex and the last Uchiha. The one most people wanted him to teach, the other Sharingan in Konoha.

He walked in, letting the rubber hit his head, Uzumaki Naruto: the most creative student of their year according to Umino, a lot of chakra, abandonment issues, and the innkeeper of the nine tails. In another life, he would have been like a little brother. Sandaime-sama knew Kakashi wanted to teach Naruto at some point, pass down a bit of what Minato had taught him. Only he had been imagining when the boy was chunin, not an 11-year-old brat.

“Right” He eye smiled at the three academy students, Sakura was blushing a bit, Sasuke was glaring and Naruto laughing “My first impression is... I hate you. Meet me on the roof in five” 

* * *

* * *

Last edit: 23/10/2020 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English is my second language, so please be kind <3


	2. The first week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is the point, Sakura?

**Sakura** observed her new teacher as she sat on the roof. Sasuke-kun was at her left, his fingers connected in front of his mouth and elbows resting on his tights. Usually, she might get distracted by the opportunity of being in such close proximity to her crush. There was nothing usual about this situation, however. Iruka-sensei had summoned her and the two boys to inform them about the chance of getting these tutoring sections. 

The explanation he presented was that they were a very likely team combination after Genin promotion. She was overjoyed at the chance of being Sasuke's teammate but certainly annoyed at having to put up with Naruto too. 

"Right" The silver-haired teacher spoke, bringing her attention back to their current meeting. "Let's introduce ourselves. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future"

"You're a bit suspicious," Naruto stated, and for once, Sakura agreed. 

"Why don't you go first... sensei?" Sakura decided to suggest and was pleased when the man agreed with a nod of his head. 

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I think you're too young to know my likes and I dislike a few things. Hobbies... I have dreams at night, sometimes" 

Sakura face-palmed, and from her peripheral vision, she saw Sasuke-kun's left eyebrow twitch.

'He only told us his name...' she sighed to herself 'How weird. I wonder if Sasuke-kun will say anything about someone he fancies...'

"Your turn!" The jounin eye smiled "Pinky, you first" She resolved to ignore the nickname and proceed. 

"I like.." What did she even like? _Sasuke_. But that's a person, not a thing. She glimpsed at the boy and felt her face heat up and giggled a bit.

"My hobbies..." She tried to look away from the Uchiha, but flashes of herself scribbling his name in her journal made her blush again.

"My dream..." She couldn't tell that all she wanted was to get married to Sasuke-kun, right?

"... and your dislikes?" Kakashi-sensei asked, and Sakura calmed down. 

"Naruto" The most annoying person around, without a doubt. 

"Right..." Sensei replied, and she beamed sweetly "Blondie, your turn." 

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and dislike waiting three minutes for ramen to be ready. My hobbies are eating different flavours of ramen and my dream... is to be Hokage so everyone will acknowledge me."

'Hokage' Sakura inclines her head to see her blonde classmate on the other side of Sasuke. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to scoff at Naruto's dream. 

"And lastly," Hatake-sensei stared at Sasuke-kun, making her excitement grow. She was curious to listen to her crush's likes and dreams. Would he talk about her at all? "Broody" 

"Uchiha Sasuke," He spoke, and Sakura felt herself blushing already. "There is very little I like and a lot I dislike" That... didn't feel very romantic. "I don't bother with things like Hobbies" Sasuke-kun continued "And my dream... no dream is not a good word for it because I will make it a reality. Is to kill a certain man" Sasuke's voice was cold and certain, sending a shiver down Sakura's spine. The bad kind, not the ones she felt when her eyes occasionally met his.

"Alright then!" Sensei said, "Now that we know more about each other, we can discuss how this is going to work."

"We only know his name" Naruto muttered, and she felt herself nod along with that statement.

"You three understand why we're here?"

"Iruka-sensei said we... we're very likely to be put on a team together" Sakura answered.

"That's true. But do you realize why you're here now and not in one year?" Sakura bit her lip and glanced at the boys. Sasuke was frowning a bit, and Naruto was bouncing from side to side. 

"You three are here because your dynamics, as it stands, is toxic" Sakura felt herself frown "And if you don't fix that... well the other teams are decided already. So either the three of you graduate, and fix your relationship, or is one extra year at the academy to all of you!" 

"What" Sakura jumped a bit when Sasuke spoke at her side, the single word full of anger "Do you mean?"

"I meant what I said Sasuke-kun" Sensei answered, not missing a beat " If Naruto here, who is in danger of not even graduating, doesn't pass the final exam, you'll have to wait a year for reassignment"

"Hey!" Naruto shouted his indignation "You can't do this. And I don't want to be on a team with the Bastard"

"You plan on being a ninja?" Kakashi asked and Sakura watched Naruto nod. Their future teacher eye-smiled "Then you better start accepting things you don't want." 

"Sensei" Sakura resolved to ask before Naruto answered "How... I mean how are these extra lessons going to work?"

"I'm glad you asked Sakura-chan" He answered cheerfully, Sasuke was fuming at her side, and she was growing restless "We meet every day after the academy ends. You get an hour for lunch and then meet me on training ground 5" 

She nodded, and Kakashi looked from one to the other before continuing speaking. 

"I want to have some time alone with each of you. And you three can help each other. Remember," he eye smiled again, and Sakura was beginning to loathe that expression "The three of you need to graduate, otherwise..." 

She looked down and noticed Sasuke-kun shutting his fits tight. Sakura sighed. The idea of spending all the extra time with her crush was nice, but having Naruto and the weird jounin was not her idea of romantic time. 

"Tuesday and Thursday I will work with the three of you collectively. Mondays" He looked at Sasuke-kun "I'm going to work alone with Sasuke"

The raven smirked, and she felt butterflies inside her stomach. 

"Why are you going to teach just him?" 

"Calm down Naruto" Sakura answered, bothered "Let him finish"

"While I work with Sasuke-kun, Sakura here is going to help you Naruto to catch up with your schoolwork"

Sakura blinked. Images of she and Naruto sitting together an entire afternoon flashing through her mind. 

"What" Sakura felt the eyes of the boys on her, but she was fixed on Hatake. 

"Remember Sakura-chan, if he doesn't graduate..." Sensei eye smiled as she glanced at Sasuke-kun. 'If that idiot fails, Sasuke-kun will blame me forever'. This entire thing was getting worse by the second. 

"Moving on!" Sensei cheerful voice interrupted her intern debate "Wednesday I'm working with Naruto-kun. So Sasuke here will assist Sakura with Taijutso" Sakura perked up, blushing, and looked at the Uchiha.

He didn't gaze back at her 'He must be shy!'. This was just perfect! An entire afternoon with Sasuke, every week. Ino was going to be so jealous!

"And Friday! Sakura is with me, and Sasuke is going to help Naruto with his Taijutsu" Sakura agreed without paying much attention, distracted with the perspective of alone time with her crush. 

"Saturday you'll get off early. I want Naruto to take you two to the forest and teach you to hunt different animals. You'll cook and eat for lunch whatever you hunt, and then you're free.

Sakura looked at the blonde who just grinned. 

* * *

Sakura stared at Naruto with narrowed eyes. This Monday was the first 'tutoring' day to the three, which meant she also started tutoring Naruto. She could hear Sasuke and Kakashi spar in the background. Having spent some time evaluating what Naruto needed to improve the most, Sakura learned that the gaps in his education were worse than she first suspected. 

Naruto knew close to nothing about chakra theory, his only knowledge on history was the founding of the village. Uzumaki's understanding of anatomy lacked a lot. Adding to that, he didn't even know what they learned in geography class. For all he dreamed of Hokage, the blonde didn't seem like he understood a word of their sociology class. 

To her surprise and relief, Naruto was not too terrible at maths. He was not any kind of Maths genius, but he understood the equations well enough. However, he didn't always get it right because of the written problem. 

"Read this to me Naruto," She asked again, the blonde looked away, answering her unspoken question. Sakura groaned. The reason to most of the gaps in Naruto's education was right there. How did he go so far without reading?"

"Naruto. Why. Can't. You. Read." 

He looked away from her, and Sakura felt some of her anger disappear. Gone was all the shouting and obnoxiously. Was Naruto... shy about this matter? 

"I... can a little? There was... no one to teach me" Sakura blinked again and breathed heavily. Could she even teach him how to read? 

"But I don't need this stuff Sakura-chan! I'm going to be Hokage and.."

"And if you don't pass finals, neither you, I or Sasuke will make Genin in one year Naruto" She finished with a scowl "So, sit down and study."

* * *

"Sasuke-kun" Sakura shouted trying to catch her breath, the boy paused but didn't turn to look at her as she ran to catch up with him "Hey... I wanted to... hn I need to talk with about..."

"I'm not interested in going on a date Sakura," He said and started walking again. She overlooked the stab of pain in his words and drove after him. 

"That's not... it's about Naruto" She said and regarded him frown. 

"What about the idiot?"

"Sasuke. I need your help. Naruto can't read" Sasuke-kun stopped and turned to her. 

"What do you mean?"

"He can't read. And Monday afternoon is not going to be enough to help him with that and all the school stuff he doesn't know."

"And how is this my problem?" Sasuke said but didn't start walking again. They were just out of the center of the village, so the street was mostly desert. 

"You heard sensei," Sakura reminded him "He needs to graduate"

Sasuke sighed "And what do you want me to do?"

"He needs to start understanding stuff in class. We need to sit with him and help. I can't do that alone and do my schoolwork without Iruka-sensei noticing." She felt confident again now that Sasuke was listening to her. 

"Fine." Sakura smiled. 

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun." 

"Hn" 

* * *

"Pay attention!" Sakura whispered to Naruto "What you don't understand?" Iruka was explaining the concept of elemental chakra manipulation. 

"What is katra?" Sakura facepalmed 

"How you don't know that?!" She answered a bit too loud and blushed when a few classmates looked their way. 

"Naruto, Sakura" Iruka-sensei called. "Do you two want to share something with the class?" 

They shook their heads, Sakura flushing pink. She glanced at Sasuke, who was rolling his eyes at them. 

"It's chakra dobe" Sasuke hissed when Iruka turned back to his lesson. 

"Who are you cal..." 

"Shhhhh," Sakura said, stepping on Naruto's foot "Shut up and listen to Sasuke's explanation. I don't want to make sensei angry again."

She half-listened to both, Sasuke, explaining the basics of chakra theory to Naruto and Iruka-sensei, going into the more advanced field of chakra transformation. Sakura made sure to keep her foot on top of Naruto's, so whenever it looked like he was going to shout at Sasuke, she stepped on it. The action brought her an odd satisfaction. 

Of course, it would be too easy if only her foot was enough o quiet Naruto down. It happened in history class. 

"What's he even talking about?" Naruto asked, and she covered her mouth to answer 

"Remember that I explained to you that Mist went through a civil war a few years ago?" The blonde nodded. "Sensei is showing us how that affected the mission flow to their village."

Naruto nodded again, now a bit unsure, so she kept going "They increased a bit in B-rank and above missions, but because of the reputation of the-bloody-mist the village lost a lot of income from D and C ranks." 

"Because civilians were scared of them" Naruto made that connection, and she smiled.

"They might still be. And because of their intern war, mist might be lacking higher-ranked ninjas"

"Thank's Sakura-chan! You are so smart!" She smirked a bit at the praise and looked back to Iruka's lecture.

They were quiet for a few minutes when Naruto spoke up.

"This is dumb."

"Shut up dobe" Sasuke complained and Sakura stepped in Naruto's foot, but this time was ignored as the blonde glared at the Uchiha "Can't you just watch the class?"

"What's wrong with you Teme? Do you want help to take this sick out of your ass?" Naruto answered way too loud, and Sakura sighed as 

Sasuke glared at Naruto. By then, everyone was looking at the commotion, and Iruka didn't seem happy. 

"Naruto, Sasuke," He said with his teacher's voice " Knock it out"

But Iruka-sensei was too late, Naruto had jumped Sasuke and the two were rolling on the ground trying to pin each other.

'Is this my life forever now?' Would she spend the next year breaking up fights between the two boys? Sakura groaned as she too stood up to help Sensei in pulling them away from each other. 'At least I'll have my romantic afternoon with Sasuke-kun today!' 

* * *

"Your angle is off" Sasuke repeated "You're wasting power" 

Sakura readjusted and repeated the kick, he blocked, but she saw his feet moving in the ground to help brace the impact behind her blow. 

"Maybe we should take a break" Sakura pointed, she didn't want to get too sweaty near Sasuke. 

"We've been practicing for an hour," He said looking at her a bit dismissively "You're spent already?"

"N-no... I just thought we could use the time to get to know each other"

"Let's keep going Sakura," Sasuke stated "You need the extra work" 

She was taken aback a bit at his words. 

"Thank you for your help Sasuke-kun." was her answer while getting ready to try the move again. 

Sakura was disappointed. On one hand, Sasuke's comments were helpful, and having someone to spar with was much better than just practicing Katas. However, her hopes for a nice afternoon with him... were ruined. 

Sakura's hair was damp from the exercise and her dress was dirty. Face pink from the sweat, and a purple bruise forming on her forearm. Nothing about her screamed pretty. 

However, she kept going. Sasuke was pushing her, and every time she mentioned a break, he scoffed with a superior look. More and more, Sakura was annoyed at his attitude. Was Sasuke-kun always so difficult?

* * *

Sakura jumped out of the way just in time, Naruto came crashing to the floor just where she had been standing. Distracted by Naruto, however, Sakura missed Sasuke coming in her direction. When she looked again he was almost crashing on her already. Bracing for impact, Sakura and Sasuke both fell, his elbow hitting her stomach and her vision went black for a second. 

"Let's take a break," Kakashi told them as she rolled on the floor and tried to get her breath back "What are you doing wrong?"

"We're week" Sasuke-kun declared. 

"You can't win this yet yes" Sensei admitted "But that's not the point" Sakura's mind was racing. Why were they sparing three ways? What was the point? 

"So what is?" Naruto voiced frustrated "What's the point?" 

"Look underneath the underneath. Today is our fifth day together. What changed in your lives?"

None of them had an answer, so they continued to get beaten to the ground by the Jounin.

Sakura was anxious about her training day with Kakashi. When she asked the boys what they did, Sasuke didn't answer and Naruto shouted about boring exercises. What would it be? The man was a mystery. 

The question, however, was ringing strong at her ears. What's the point of making them take these tutoring sections? 

Sensei implied that the answer was similar to the reason he was throwing them around the training grounds two times a week. It couldn't be. What training methods have to do with these extra lessons? 

One was macro and the other micro. Kakashi had said they needed to fix their toxic dynamics. Why? 

* * *

Friday morning went by fast, Naruto and Sasuke jumped each other in anatomy lesson, she had punched the blonde on the face in history, and Sasuke had to physically hold Naruto in place so the blonde didn't run away from Chakra theory. 

Soon she was following Kakashi to a corner of the training grounds, leaving Naruto and Sasuke together. Sensei had been just one hour late, and she spent a good portion of that time making Naruto write simple words and read phrases out loud. 

"Hopefully," Sensei said looking down at her "They won't kill each other" 

Sakura glanced back and noticed that they were already at it, rolling on the ground trying to punch each other's face. 

She sighed and followed Kakashi until the voice of the two boys disappeared. 

"I already have a plan on what we can work on," Sensei told her "But I would like us to spar first" Sakura bit her lip and agreed, getting ready. 

Kakashi-sensei didn't go easy on her at all. He was everywhere and blocked all her punches. 

"Tisk tisk... Sakura-chan" Sensei teased "Can't you do better than that?" Sakura frowned and turned her body on a twist sending an aggressive kick at him. He dodged easily.

"Would it even hurt if it landed?" Sensei asked, and Sakura felt her temper flare, she was frustrated. The Hatake walked back and signed her to stop. 

"Came on, punch this tree." 

Sakura did as he said, her knuckles hurting a bit at the impact. 

"Again Sakura, can't you do better than that?" She repeated the punch with little difference annoyed. She spent the week trying to teach Naruto how to read, getting ignored by Sasuke, and trying to make these two stay 10 minutes without fighting. Now her sensei was asking her to punch a tree, what was the point of all this? 

"Are you a ninja Sakura? Or are you just playing around?"

She punched it again, and the tree now curved a bit at her touch. 

"Can you throw a punch?" Sensei asked and Sakura's fist broke through the tree, making it fall.

She looked at the fallen three, her heartbeat strong in her ears, and then at her fist, her hand was bloody but no bones were broken. Sakura blinked, all anger vanishing. 

"Good work" Sensei ruffled her hair "That's what I was speaking about Sakura-chan!"

"What... just happened?" Sakura inquired and Kakashi-sensei eye smiled 

" When you get angry, you use your chakra to make your hits stronger. You release the chakra just in time. It's impressive that you do it without thinking, Sakura."

"What does this mean?" Sakura frowned 

"It means" He answered, "That we're going to train you on that."

"Is it hard?"

"Yes. To be honest Sakura, only one other person uses it in the way I think you could. That's Senju Tsunade" 

"From the Sanin?" Kakashi nodded and Sakura felt her head spin. Could she even do this? Learn something invented by Tsunade-sama herself?

She didn't know, but Kakashi-sensei didn't look like he was going to let her give up without trying. 

* * *

Sakura and Sasuke followed Naruto to Konoha's forest. She was curious about what the blonde was supposed to teach them. Naruto made way to the river that centered the forest, they had gone there a few times on Academy trips. 

"We're fishing today" The blonde explained taking ninja wire out of his backpack and throwing the bag to the side "It's the easiest thing to do" Sakura bit her lip and accepted the wire Naruto was presenting her. 

Fishing was the first time Sakura saw Naruto silent. It was crazy, but also strangely reassuring to sit in silence with the boys. After a week full of new training and unusual experiences, Sakura was relieved by the quietness. 

Of course, the second they had three big fishes and Naruto redirected them to start the fire he was shouting again. 

"Sasuke, seriously" The blonde complained, "Are you like... afraid of gutting your fish?"

Sakura looked at the Uchiha, and sure enough, he was staring between Naruto's work and his own fish with a very uncomfortable face. "Shut up idiot" Sasuke glared at Naruto "It's disgusting"

Sakura burst out laughing. 

* * *

* * *

Last edit: 26/10/2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English is my second language, so please be kind.


	3. The second week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How is it going, Kakashi?

**Kakashi** woke up with voices in the corridor. One of the reasons he didn't like Hospitals was all the noise and smells. It distracted him, making it hard to sleep.

The Hatake rose his head from the place it was resting, rubbed his eye, and looked at Genma's bed. "Aren't you suppose to be resting?" 

Genma opened his eyes and smiled a bit. "I'm not sleepy". 

Raising slowly from his seat, Kakakashi glanced at the clock, confirming the time, 3:00 a.m. He made his way to Genma's bed, and his boyfriend slowly moved a bit to the right, leaving a bit of space for Kakashi to sit.

"What's on your mind?" He asked, and Genma looked away. 

"I'm just... thinking." Kakashi took one of Genma's hand and laced their fingers together. 

"How was your section with Inoichi-san?"

"As well as possible. It's... uncomfortable to talk about it"

"I know." the Hatake answered. 

"Is the senbon thing" Genma admitted looking away from him "I always knew it could happen. But it always was... the way I feel protected."

Kakashi lifted his free hand to Genma's forehead and took away a few strands of hair from his face. 

"I always felt naked without my senbon. I still do, can't wait to have it back... but now sometimes I remember it cutting me from the inside." 

"Do you have a senbon with you?"

"Under my pillow" Genma admitted and grinned at Kakashi, who smiled back and changed his position, so he was leaning against the back of the bad. Genma shifted closer, so his head was now on Kakashi's lap. 

"Have I ever told you about the time Gai challenged me to see who could eat more apples while upside down?" He asked as he started to run his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. 

"Who won?" 

"He had an unfair advantage," Kakashi replied. "I had the mask" 

"So he won" 

The Hatake made a show of sighing and nodding, making Genma laugh. 

"How are the brats?"

"They are doing well. Sakura bites her lip so often that I think someday she might cut through it, and Sasuke keeps doing these eyebrow twitches when I tease him."

"You like them." 

"It's been a week" Kakashi pointed, and Genma rolled his eyes. 

"And training?"

"It's good. Better than if they were genin, I believe. We're trying to get Naruto up to speed with the Academy, and I think Sasuke needed the company. I have the impression he doesn't... talk much with people"

"He's a messed up kid" Genma recognized. 

"His only goal is to murder Itachi. I'm expecting that he'll bond with the other two. If they figure it out that they need to work together, that will happen faster."

"And the girl?" Kakashi shut his eye and smiled under his mask 

"I'm teaching her Tsunade-sama's chakra release Taijutso" He confessed, "She's going to be a little monster." 

"I think you're enjoying yourself too much" Genma commented amusedly.

"They are good kids." 

They stayed in silence for a few minutes after that, Kakashi running his fingers through Genma's hair, sounds of the hospital invading their night. 

"Yesterday in training Sakura almost broke Sasuke's arm" Kakashi spoke when it was clear the other was still having an arduous time falling asleep. He distracted Genma with tails of the three academy students, Gai's challenges, and everything else that came to mind. After a while, the man drifted off to sleep on Kakashi's lap. 

* * *

The three kids dropped to the ground looking beat. They were spotting several small cuts and bruises and had their clothes were ripped and dirty. More pressing was the long cut on Sakura's left arm that reached from her shower to her elbow and Sasuke's dislocated shoulder. 

The Hatake felt kind of bad for being so harsh with the kids in these sparing sections, but he needed them to decide to work together. Nothing was more important than teamwork. 

"We're done for the day," Kakashi said, watching as they exhaled in relief "Let's go to the hospital, have you looked over. Then we can have dinner, my threat" He saw Sakura's face and added, "I have a way to let your parents know, Sakura-chan." 

Kakashi walked with the kids inside the Hospital, Naruto, and Sasuke already bickering as he directed them to the Shinobi section. 

"Hatake-san!" A tall dark-haired doctor who he didn't remember the name called as they entered the check-in point "How can we help you today?"

He motioned to the three "Good afternoon. My students here got hurt while training. Kids these days! They have no regard for safety." 

He kept a straight face as three pairs of eyes looked his way accusing, and the Medic-nin chuckled. Sasuke's left eyebrow twitched. 

"Came along, I'll admit you three." Kakashi followed behind the doctor, laughing internally. They had only been together for little more than one week, so the children had yet to get used to his bullshit. Full-grown adults like Tenzo, who had known him for years, still had a hard time putting up with him, and the kids were way easier to rile up than his Kohai. 

The medic-nin who introduced himself as Fukkuka-san worked first in putting Sasuke's shoulder back in place. The raven refused to show much pain but did let a surprised gasp out when his shoulder was relocated.

Kakashi watched Sakura's face shine in interest as the doctor's hands glowed green with healing chakra as he fixed the swelling. 

Interesting. Sakura never expressed much interest in medicine, but she could be good with that. The Haruno enjoyed the academic side of the ninja life and had outstanding chakra control. Maybe... 

Fukkaka-san fixed Sakura's arm easily but decided to let the bruises and cuts they had get better naturally. He didn't make any move to ask Naruto if he had any injuries, and Kakashi felt a bit annoyed at this. The Uzumaki didn't need healing, but he deserved it offered to him. 

"I didn't know the hospital was so big!" Naruto stated as they walked to the Ramen stand, and Kakashi frowned. He had pulled his Icha-Icha book and was walking a few steps behind the kids. 

"What do you mean Naruto?" Sakura asked, looking at the blonde. 

"I had never been inside."

Sakura and Sasuke stopped, and Kakashi stepped to stand with the kids, his eye never leaving the pages of the book. 

"How... everyone has been to the hospital!"

"I haven't."

"Not even when you got sick?" Sasuke was the one asking now, and the blonde looked at the raven frowning. 

"I never get sick!"

"What about... vaccination!?" Sakura asked, her eyes widening in panic.

"Someone came by to give me vaccines," Naruto answered as if it was obvious, and the pink-haired girl relaxed. 

Kakashi noticed Sasuke looking at Naruto with a frown, and decided to intervene. 

"Sakura" He started walking again, the three following, "I noticed you seemed interested in the medic's work." The girl bit her lip and blushed a bit. "You have a favorable profile for medic-nin training. Is it something you're interested in?" 

"I never considered it before... it sounds interesting." She admitted, not meeting his eye. "But isn't Medic ninjutsu like, super hard?" Kakashi nodded 

"Yes. It's one of the hardest specialties there is. It requires a lot of studying, and medic-ninja have to work double to keep up all their skills. Usually, they have support roles on teams. Because their survival is important." Naruto and Sasuke had both lost interest in their conversation and were now bickering about food. 

"However," Kakashi continued, "I don't think your personality fits well with a support role. Tsunade-sama was a frontline fighter, and you're learning her style." 

"I... don't know if... it's a bit..."

"No decisions have to be made now," Kakashi told her, ruffling her hair "There is a pre-med class starting next month from 11 to 13. If you want, I can get you in."

"Don't you have to be a Genin to attend those?"

"Yes. But I can pull some strings." 

"Academy finishes at 12... and we start training at 13... "

"Sakura" Kakashi paused, putting his book down "If you want this, I'll talk with the academy, and you can arrive late to training." She bit her lip. "It doesn't mean you have to be a doctor forever or anything. You can quit at any time if you hate it." 

"I... okay. I want to try it!"

"Hey! Sakura-chan! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's voice interrupted them, and they turned to see the blonde waiving, Sasuke standing a few steps behind "What is taking you two so long?" Sakura smiled and ran ahead to her teammates while Kakashi just went back to his book, walking slowly.

* * *

Kakashi walked into Genma's hospital room to find himself face to face with the very uncomfortable view of Raido in his underwear, while both Genma and Kurenai laughed. The three were so immersed in the situation, that they only noticed him leaning at the wall with a raised eyebrow when they calmed down a bit. 

"Hey" Genma recovered first and smiled at him.

"Do I even want to know?" He asked, glancing from Genma to a still laughing Kurenai and then to Raid,o who was putting on his clothes again. 

"We were playing a strip game." Kurenai explained, "But only Raido strips."

"And when he does" Genma added, "He has to do a little dance."

"And if they laugh, I get a point." 

Kakashi blinked "This makes no sense at all" The three smiled, and the Hatake decided to let it go. 

"How was your afternoon?" Genma asked after their friends left 

"It went fine. And yours?" his boyfriend smiled and motioned him to sit on the bed with him. When Kakashi did, he rested his head on the Hatake's shoulder. 

"I have two good news. Tomorrow I get to eat food! Looks like the intern damage from the senbon was mostly healed." Kakashi smiled behind his mask "And... if I manage to get 3kg back, we can go home!" Kakashi's eye widened. He had been expecting Genma would spend the second month of his recovery at the hospital. That the doctors were considering letting him off early was excellent news. 

"Does that mean that I have to stop leaving my underwear on the kitchen table again?"

"I better don't see anything that's not food on the kitchen Hatake" Genma made an angry face, but soon relaxed and they beamed at each other. The special Jounin sighed tiredly. 

"Want to lay down?" the older male nodded, and Kakashi stood. He helped his boyfriend to shift his position, so he was no longer sitting. 

"How are the kids?"

"Good... I actually had to bring them to the hospital, got a bit carried away on our spar." 

"Hatake Kakashi, Jounin, copy-ninja... now reduced to beating up little kids."

"Hey!" Kakashi pouted under his mask "I didn't beat them up. Training accidents are normal". 

"Whatever you say." 

"I think I'm going to teach Sasuke how to use a Katana," he said, sitting down on the floor, so his head was near Genma's "He likes fire ninjutso way too much, and if he's going for that, he needs to put some distance between him and the enemy. We don't need the last Uchiha putting himself on fire." 

"Uchihas always were pyromaniac."

Kakashi chuckled. 

"I think I have practice swords somewhere on the apartment," Genma said, his eyes were starting to look heavy "You and Sasuke are welcome to use it."

"Thank you, Gen" His boyfriend made a sound, his eyes closing. Kakashi smiled to himself. He was by no means a romantic person and had no expectations of having a serious relationship when he and Genma started to sleep together. The Jounin remembered how hard the first years were. He couldn't even confess to himself his feelings, much less to Genma. Now, it was hard to imagine a life without him. 

"Hey, Genma?" 

"What?" His boyfriend's voice was muffled, he was almost asleep.

"I love you." 

"I know." 

* * *

Kakashi watched as Naruto failed again to complete the set of Katas with the leaf stuck to his forehead and sighed. "Naruto, let's take a break."

"Fine" The blonde answered, frustrated with his failure, and sat down on the floor. Kakashi took his orange book out and leaned his back in a tree. 

"Do you know why you have such a hard time with chakra control, Naruto?" He didn't wait for an answer "You have a lot of chakra. More than Sakura and Sasuke. More than any of your classmates, actually."

"I have more chakra then the bastard?" Kakashi smiled under his mask

"Yes"

"Wow"

"Yeah, wow" He closed his book and looked to his student "Having a lot of chakra is good, but if you can't control it you won't be able to do jutso. With a great chakra capacity comes great responsibilities."

Naruto nodded and smiled. Something inside Kakashi shifted, he looked too much like his parents. 

"Let's try again. If you manage to go halfway through without letting your leaf fall, I'll treat you to ramen today."

Blue eyes shined with a new determination, and the blonde stood up, ready to train. 

Kakashi was amused at how fast Naruto ate his ramen, the blonde was worse than his mother. 

"Kakashi-sensei" Naruto questioned after he finished his third bowl "Why do you like... " He gestured to Kakashi's face "Why do you use a mask?"

"Because otherwise, people would see how handsome I am. Can't have everyone running into walls because they are distracted by my good looks, can I?" His student narrowed his eyes at him.

"Can I see under your mask?" Kakashi resisted the urge to smirk. 

"Of course" He hooked his finger under his mask, Naruto's blue eyes were shining with anticipation. "Under my mask there is..." He hooked the material down "A second mask!" 

There was silence. Ayame burst out laughing behind the counter, and Naruto face-palmed. 

"You're lame sensei" Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair and stood up to pay the bill. 

"Can you add to my bill an extra bowl of ramen and give me a coupon?" Ayame nodded, and Kakashi gave her the money. 

"Came on, Naruto! We have one more stop before I walk you home."

"I don't need you to walk me home sensei" The blonde complained, but followed Kakashi anyway. They entered Konoha's biggest market, probably the only one that still would be open at that time. 

"Grab a basked please" The blonde did as asked.

"What sort of training are we doing tomorrow sensei? Are we still going to spar?" 

"Maybe yes, maybe no." Kakashi started to add fruits to the basked. "You'll find out tomorrow."

"But I wanna know noooow" He chucked and made his way to a differet section of the store, now piking a few rolls of toilet paper and toothbrush.

"Why do you want to know now?" 

"Because," Naruto said, following Kakashi as he added milk and a package of tea to the basket "Then I'll get to know before the bastard." 

Kakashi tilted his head to the side as if seriously considering Naruto's words. "That's a good enough reason as any," he said finally. 

The Hatake added rice and a pack of rice balls to the basket and made his way to the counter. "Sooooo" Naruto asked, jumping behind him "You're gonna tell me?" The civilian behind the counter made a face when he and Naruto approached.

Kakashi didn't miss a beat, handing her the basket and turning to Naruto. 

"We will be sparing, yes." By the way Naruto's smile shifted, Kakashi could see that he had noticed the glares coming from the civilian woman. "However, next week I'm moving to something different." 

"What???" Naruto asked eagerly, and Kakashi ruffled his hair before paying for the groceries. 

"Now, I already told you what we'll do tomorrow." He answered, walking in the direction of Naruto's apartment "Isn't that enough?"

"But senseeeei" Naruto complained " I'm curious"

"I thought you were Naruto"

"Laaaaaame" 

Kakashi chuckled and took out his orange book again. 

"How do you even walk and read without bumping into people?"

"Practice"

"Why do you read so much porn?"

"It's not porn. This is a romance"

Naruto scoffed "Why are you late all the time?"

"I try to be on time. But I can't help if black cats keep appearing in my way and this village has a high rate of old ladies"

"Sensei..." 

They walked in silence a bit after that and stopped in front of the Uzumaki's place. Kakashi handed him the grocery bag and Naruto took it on instinct with a frown. 

"Why are you giving me this?"

"Because they are for you. Make sure you eat the fruits before they go bad."

"But..." Naruto looked lost, so Kakashi pocketed his book and crunched to his eye level. 

"I bought this for you too" He eye smiled and handed Naruto the free ramen bowl cupon. 

"I... th-thank you." 

"It's nothing." 

* * *

Kakashi had left Genma with Tenzo last night and slept in their apartment. When he spent the night with Genma, the Hatake usually went to the memorial stone before meeting the three academy students. But when home, he let Genma, and whoever spent the night with him, sleep and visited the memorial in the early morning. 

The day was cloudy but nice, neither too hot nor too cold. So when he arrived at the stone, the first thing he said was: 

"Rin would love today's weather. It's perfect for sitting on the grass."

The stone didn't answer, of course. "Genma is going better. There is a chance he'll get released this month." 

Kakashi stared at the stone for what felt like 2 minutes, but he knew it was 2 hours. "Naruto is doing better sensei," Kakashi finally said when he decided to leave. "I have to go see Genma now... Obito you would make fun of me, because of how whipped I am" He sighed, but turned around from the stone. 

"Good morning, captain!"

"Hey" Kakashi greeted as he entered through Genma's room window. His boyfriend was still asleep, but Tenzo was writing a report on the corner. "How is he?"

"Fine. Slept the entire night."

"Good. He could use the rest" Tenzo chuckled and stood up. 

"How are you Sempai?"

"Relieved. That he's getting better." Kakashi admitted "Thank you for this Kohai" Tenzo smiled. 

"I'm glad to help."

"And how are things?"

"Fine enough. I'm training a new operative, it's always fun." The younger man gave him one of his creepy smiles and Kakashi smirked 

"Look at you, all grown up" His friend rolled his eyes. 

"I have to go now, captain," The AMBU said with a sigh. 

"Not your captain anymore!"

* * *

* * *

Last edit: 28/10/2020


	4. The third week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it that bad, Sasuke?

**Sasuke** had never contemplated the idea of a sword. But as he moved through the Katas, it felt right. 

"Raise your left arm a bit further" Kakashi was leaning against a tree and reading his book, but every time Sasuke made a mistake he would call on it right away, eye not moving an inch from the pages. The training afternoon progressed well. Neither he nor the Hatake liked to talk much, so his Mondays were silent. 

Sasuke had been the one helping Naruto out with homework before Sakura arrived, half an hour later than normal but still earlier than Kakashi. The experience was always a bit disorientating. Naruto's educational gaps were huge, and his attention span tiny. However, he had to admit that the Uzumaki was not that stupid. In two weeks they could already notice some improvement. It was unlikely that he would graduate anywhere near the highest academic grades of their class, but chances were he would have reasonable knowledge about the curriculum. The reading thing was a major problem, Sakura was the one that found him work sheets and was doing her best to teach him. 

A second thing Sasuke had to admit, Sakura was pretty smart. Now that he was sitting with her and Naruto, the Uchiha could recognize how well she did in class. The Haruno red ahead in most subjects and was rather sharp. When Kakashi told them about Sakura's new pre-med classes, Sasuke surprised himself by feeling pleased. 

"Sakura seemed happy when I arrived," Kakashi said when they called a day.

"Wasn't she punching Naruto when you arrived?" Sasuke answered, opening his water canteen. 

"No! I mean when she first came from her class."

"You weren't there," Sasuke frowned, but Kakashi jus eye-smiled at him. The Uchiha felt his left eyebrow twitch. They started to walk in silence in the direction of Naruto and Sakura's voices. 

"How do you think the other two Taijutso is improving?" 

"Naruto is a mess, and Sakura is too predictable." 

"It has only been two weeks," Sensei amended, and Sasuke sighed. 

"You could train me more. I learn fast."

"You do. But your friends are not that slow, are they?" Sasuke didn't like the word friends. He had no time for things like friendship. His role was of an avenger, his goal was destroying. 

"I suppose." 

"You know Sasuke-kun, I think I'll give you the extra task of inviting Naruto and Sakura for dinner today!" Sasuke opened his mouth to refuse, but Kakashi kept talking. "I have a coupon for that barbecue place, today is the last day to use it... and I can't. You see, I have to help a little kid in finding his lost dog." 

"I don't have time for this Kakashi" 

"Of course you do! We're done for the day!" Sasuke glared at the Hatake. No way he was doing this. 

* * *

"It was nice of Kakashi-sensei to give us his dinner cupon!" Sakura commented as they waited for their food. Sasuke still didn't remember ever agreeing to this dinner. 'Sensei owns me'. 

"I guess" Naruto answered "But he's still a pervert that's always late."

For once, he had to agree with Naruto. 

"We saw that you're learning how to use a Katana Sasuke-kun! How was it?" Blue and green eyes were focused on him. 

"Fine" Naruto rolled his eyes. 

"Bastard, answer Sakura-chan!"

"I just did," Sasuke stated, confused.

"Don't fight with Sasuke-kun, Naruto! He doesn't have to answer if he doesn't want to."

"But I answered! It went fine" They both looked at him and blinked.

"This is not a good answer Teme. You have to like... say more stuff."

Sasuke frowned "Like what?"

"Did you like it? Was it hard?" Sakura interrupted, and Sasuke sighed. 

"I liked it. It was... challenging" He looked from her to Naruto and decided to divert the attention away from him "How was your new class?" 

"It went great!" She smiled "I thought I would be behind, so I did a lot of extra reading yesterday. And I was not behind at all."

"You're so smart Sakura-chan!" Naruto proclaimed 

"Someone has to compensate you, I guess" she answered, and Naruto dropped his head to the table. Sasuke smirked. 

"Naruto, talking about being smart," she started sending a look at Sasuke "How come no one noticed you had... that you couldn't read as well as you should?" 

An uncomfortable silence settled, and Sasuke watched something pass in Naruto's face. The blonde looked hurt, and it felt wrong. He had always associated Naruto with happiness. 

"The teachers didn't... pay much attention to me."

"This is not something easy to miss." Sakura pressed, and Sasuke found himself annoyed at the Pink haired girl who couldn't take a hint. 

"Sakura-chan, can you drop it?" Naruto asked, not looking at either of them. Sakura's eyes widened. 

"Y-yes"

There was an awkward silence after that.

"You two think we'll spar against sensei tomorrow?" Sasuke asked, trying hard to ignore the relief he felt as Naruto's face changed back to a happy smile.

"Sensei told me that we'll do something new. I don't know what tho..." Naruto answered, and soon he and Sakura were speculating about what it could be. 

Sasuke watched his classmates talking. Maybe this wasn't so bad.

* * *

"That's not wrong." Sasuke granted. He was helping Naruto complete his homework, reading the exercises he couldn't and helping him write his answers explaining what the blonde didn't know. Often there was no time to finish, but he still got more homework done than he used to before this system started. "Releasing your chakra is the most convenient way to dispel a genjutso. However, if that doesn't work you can use pain."

"Like what?" the blond asked "Stabbing myself?"

"Yes"

"That's fucked up" Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blonde. Before he could respond, they were distracted by Kakashi's arrival. 

"Good afternoon my cute little students!"

"YOU'RE LATE!"

"You arrived here before Sakura did." Sasuke commented, frowning "You're just... 15 minutes late."

"That's almost on time." Naruto pointed. 

"Yes! Sorry, I'm late... There was a security problem near the south gate, I was sent as reinforcement."  
Sasuke's left eyebrow twitched. There was no way that would only make him 15 minutes late. 

"Come along, little ducklings!"

"Shouldn't we wait for Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he put his school things away.

"She'll be here after she has some lunch. I believe she is going to have an easier time at this than you."

"What are we doing?" Naruto asked as they both followed Kakashi in the direction of a few trees.

"We're climbing trees without our hands," Kakashi said, and proceed to do just that, climbing up the nearest tree, hands inside his pocket. 

"That's so cool!" Naruto said, jumping. "How did you do that? TEACH ME" 

"It's chakra control. You have to construct a layer of chakra on your feet, too little and you won't stick to the tree. Too much and you're going to fall down." 

Two Kunais landed in front of them. "Track your progress". Naruto didn't lose time, running at the closest tree and... falling on his ass. Sasuke watched half-amused as the blonde stood and pointed at Kakashi. 

"This is harder than you said!" Kakashi just opened his orange book. And the blonde rolled his eyes, turning back to try again. 

Sasuke faced a tree and tried to focus his chakra, feeling a burst of energy. He ran up, but the second his feet touched the tree it sort of exploded creating a small hole on the surface. The raven twisted his body so he fell on his feet, crunching down to absorb the impact. Looking at his left he exchanged a look with Naruto, and they both prepared to try again. 10 minutes passed with no success.

When Sakura joined them, Sasuke didn't pay attention as Kakashi explained to her what the exercise was about, keeping his focus on the task. 

"That's not so hard!" Sakura's voice called, and Sasuke turned around to see her walking up the tree with the same easy Kakashi had. 

"HOW?" Naruto demanded, and Sasuke felt a stab of jealousy. He was supposed to be better then the pink haired girl at practical skills. How did he expect to kill that man, if he couldn't even do better than Sakura on a chakra exercise? 

"Sakura has outstanding chakra control," Kakashi spoke up. "She also has less chakra than you two, that helps." 

Sasuke sighed and turned back to his tree. He felt her green eyes on him as he failed again. 

"You two are rushing at it," The Haruno said from where she was standing "Focus the chakra first, understand how much you need to stick." 

And just like that, the jealousy started to fade. 

* * *

"That's Yin release," Sakura said at Naruto's other side. He didn't pay attention at Uzumaki's answer, however. Because just then, his eyes that had been wandering through the classroom landed on Mizuki-sensei. The man was staring straight at Naruto, and there was something... off about the way he looked.   
Just like magic, Mizuki looked elsewhere, and his face went back to normal, but the entire thing left Sasuke a bit uneasy. 

"I'm going now," Sakura spoke in a low voice, standing up from her chair. "I'll see you two later." 

Sasuke nodded in her direction, while Naruto shouted "BYE SAKURA-CHAN!" making several heads turn their way, and Mizuki seem annoyed. 

"Keep it down dobe." The Uchiha hissed, glaring at the blonde. 

Naruto just rolled his eyes "Whatever, jerk."

"Naruto" 

"what?"

"What do you think about Mizuki-sensei?"

The blonde frowned at him and looked from their teacher to Sasuke a couple of times. 

"He's normal. I mean... he is not cool like Iruka-sensei or Kakashi-sensei... or Sakura-chan and the old man... or you. I suppose." He said the last part like it physically hurt him. 

Sasuke let Naruto go back to his work, but his mind was racing. It wasn't just Mizuki who gave him those glares. Sasuke noticed it happening in restaurants and at the street. Why? 

'It's not my problem.' he told himself and turned his eyes out of the window. 

* * *

"You're slow," Sasuke told Sakura "Your hits are strong, and I'm guessing that they will get stronger with time?" The Haruno nodded. Whatever she had been doing with Kakashi, it was making her hits hurt. Seasick had started dodging her instead of blocking it. "There is no point to strong hits if you're not fast enough to land it."

"Kakashi-sensei said the same thing," The girl admitted. They had just decided to call their training afternoon to a stop. 

"Do you know what you'll do while we climb trees tomorrow?" Sasuke asked, "Since you're the only one who mastered it". Sakura rolled her eyes. 

"You can't be best in everything Sasuke-kun, let it go." he sighed but inclined his head to the side. Sakura let her torso drop to the floor and laid down on the grass. "Sensei said that I'll just walk around on the trees, it will help to increase my reserves."

"If you ever have the time, running would help your speed." 

"That's a great idea Sasuke!" Kakashi's voice almost made him jump. Sasuke managed to react only by widening his eyes, keeping his dignity. His left eyebrow twitched "Why don't the three of you run together before the academy!" 

"That's okay I..." Sakura started to speak, but sensei interrupted. 

"Great!" He clapped his hands "I'll let Naruto know to meet you two one hour before the academy at the east gate. If you three circle all the way to the Hokage's heads in less than an hour, it will make it a nice run." 

"Where is Naruto anyway?" Sasuke asked, resigned to his fate. 

"He had a meeting with Hokage-sama."

"What?" Sakura frowned, still lied down on the floor "Why?"

"He and the Sandaime are close. They go out for ramen together once a week." Sasuke blinked. 

"Is... Sandaime-sama is the Jiji he talks about all the time?" Kakashi nodded. Sasuke's left eyebrow twitched. 

"I didn't know that." Sakura admitted "It makes sense tho... Naruto wants to be Hokage, and he admires Sandaime-sama." 

Kakashi chuckled, and Sasuke looked at the man "Everything about Naruto wanting to be Hokage makes sense" He eye smiled. "I'm off. I'll see you two tomorrow, eat your vegetables" And with a puff of smoke, he was gone. 

"Well... it looks like we're running tomorrow," Sakura said, standing up slowly. Sasuke sighed. "I'm going home and plan how to murder sensei."

"I'll help you hide the body," Sasuke offered and... froze. Had he just... told a joke?

Sakura just smiled like it was nothing and turned away, waving at him. 

'I must be high on endorphins' he concluded. 

* * *

Two times a week they had Spar sections at the academy. Sasuke actually enjoyed those, he genuinely likes Taijutsu. The raven was the first one called to fight, his match against Hyuuga Hinata, who was his favorite taijutsu opponent. 

Hinata used her clan style and had a strong advantage since Sasuke wasn't allowed to use weapons, not even kunai, or ninjutsu. She was the only one from the class that had beaten him in a match last year. Not that she always won, they were probably tied on the win/defeat area. Hinata was not very confident, and that counted against her. 

The students stood facing each other, and Sasuke decided to attack first. 

Hinata's defense left no openings, and she dodged and barred most of his hits. She wasn't allowed to block his chakra points, but there two moments when he thought that if she could block it, he would be very much in trouble. 

Hinata managed a solid hit at his ribs, and two on his left leg making, him question if he had an opening there. Sasuke got her good on her right shoulder, and when she went for his ribs again, he twisted his body and grabbed Hinata's arm. The Uchiha was faster than her and used his momentum to send Hinata crashing to the ground. 

Iruka-sensei made a sign indicating the match was over. The girls were cheering him on, and from the corner of his eyes, Sasuke could see Naruto and Sakura smiling. 

He was kind of sad it was over so fast, she was not defeated at all. They did that at the academy, stopped the match at the first major hit. But Hinata could most definitely keep going, were them on a regular spar he was sure she would. They made the friendship sign together and went their separate ways. 

Naruto's match was against Kiba, which made Sasuke interested. The blonde's main problem with Taijutso was his temper. He forgot the little technique he had and jumped straight into punching someone on the face. 

Of course, there was also the fact that Naruto's Taijutso was sloppy. However, they were working on that. Not that Sasuke cared. At all. 

"You think he'll win?"

"It's Kiba. I'm interested in seeing if Naruto can try to apply a bit of all the training on this, or if he'll just jump Kiba when he pisses him off" 

Sakura laughed. "I bet you 5 that he lasts 30 seconds" Sasuke snorted. 

"No one sane will bet on Naruto's self-control." 

The fight started. Sasuke was pleased to see that at first, Naruto managed clean moves. He seemed to be trying extra hard. Then... Kiba said something they couldn't hear, and Naruto jumped him. 

"He lasted more than 30 seconds." Sakura commented as they watched the boys roll on the ground trying to pin each other "On a different note, your fight with Hinata was nice" He glanced at her, she was biting her lips. 

"I like sparing with Hyuga, she's good," Sasuke admitted.

They watched as Iruka declared a draw and pulled Naruto and Kiba apart. The blonde was smiling as he ran in their direction claiming his seat on the other side of Sakura.

"You could have done better than that" Sasuke said, and he didn't have to look at Naruto to know the blonde was glaring at him. Before he could comment further, Sakura's name was called followed by Ino's. Sakura stood, back stiff, and made her way to where Iruka was standing.

"We're not done talking about this," He told Naruto "I spend way too much time training taijutsu with you for that to happen." 

"Fine. Shut up, I wanna watch Sakura-chan."

Sakura and Ino used to be evenly matched in Taijutso. Neither one was specifically strong at it. That was why they were paired together, today they had chosen students with similar skill levels.However, even if the three weeks of training were not enough to completely change Sakura, she had improved. And more important to that, she had learned how to channel chakra through her hits. 

Sasuke watched a bit horrified and a bit fascinated as Ino tried to put up a block with her left arm. It was a common move, you block someone's punch with an arm and punch with the other. And then, two seconds later, Ino was crying and holding her broken arm close to her chest. He wouldn't try to do that black with Sakura, because it would hurt. The only other person she spared with was Kakashi, who was a jounin. So it was understanding that she miscalculated and underestimated her own strength. 

The Haruno was wide-eyed, staring at a crying Ino as Iruka tried to calm her down. Other students were whispering, and Naruto stood up. 

"Come on Teme" He followed Naruto to Sakura's side, as Iruka joined them with his arm on Ino's shoulder. 

"I.. I'm re-really sorry Ino" Sakura was saying. "I didn't mean..."

"Did you break my arm so Sasuke would like you more?" Ino asked, and Sasuke sighed. That didn't even make sense. How breaking someone's arm would make him like Sakura?

"It was a training accident" He pointed and watched Ino's face shift to a smile. 

"You're not supposed to break your classmate's bones in a spar Sakura"   
Sasuke rolled his eyes. He resented this Academy rule and understood the worry for safety, however, they were training to be ninja. 

Iruka-sensei spoke again 

" I see it was an accident, but be careful in the future" Sakura nodded looking down "I need you to walk Ino to the hospital. Naruto, Sasuke... one of you can please go with the girls

just in case? And the other can run to the Yamanaka compound and let someone know what happened?"

"I can go to the compound" Sasuke offered fast, no way in hell he was going to have a walk with Ino and Sakura together.

* * *

Sasuke woke up with a gasp. It took him a second to remember that those images were just the ones Itachi had implanted on his brain after the massacre. It happened years ago, but sometimes it felt like days. 

Looking at the clock, he noticed that it was 4 a.m., two hours before he had to go running with Naruto and Sakura. 

The Uchiha stood up. Might as well get some early morning training. 

* * *

* * *

Last edit: 2/11/2020

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honesty time: I've been agonizing about this chapter since before I posted the prologue. I'm having a hard time writing Sasuke. But I had to post it, because I have some stuff at Uni to do, and couldn't focus because I kept thinking about this.


	5. Fourth week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do you still feel lonely, Naruto?

**Naruto** walked to the place he had to meet Sakura and Sasuke at a slow pace. Somehow, the two had given sensei the idea of adding a morning run in their training, and Naruto would never forgive them for that.The streets were still empty enough that it wasn't uncomfortable to walk around, and the blonde found himself smiling. 

These last weeks were actually fun. Kakashi sensei was very nice, despite being a lazy pervert. Sakura-chan was warming up to him, might even accept a date on of these days. And Sasuke... well. If honest, the Uzumaki had to admit that the raven was not so bad.

He was so used to the feeling of loneliness, that spending the entire day around people made him both: thrilled and terrified. He was afraid of losing the new people who were now in his life. But everything felt so much better with them around, that Naruto was willing to put his fear aside. 

The Uzumaki arrived at the meeting point, noticing the other two were already there. 

"Good morning!" He greeted with a smile. Sakura was not a morning person, and Sasuke was not a people person. So the only answer he got was an "hn" from the Uchiha and a lazy wave from Sakura that looked more like a dismissal. Naruto smiled again. 

* * *

"Naruto," Iruka-sensei called as the blonde made his way to the break time. He stopped walking and let The Bastard pass him to the door. Iruka motioned him to approach, and Naruto did. 

"Naruto-kun" The chunin smiled at him, and he beamed back."I'm very happy with your homework these days. I'm glad you're working hard."  
Naruto felt himself warm-up at the praise. 

"Thanks, sensei!" He grinned, "Maybe you should buy me some ramen as a reward!" Iruka laughed and ruffled Naruto's hair. 

"Sure. How does 1900 sound? I'll meet you there?" Naruto jumped up in celebration. Ramen with Iruka-sensei was awesome. 

"You're the best! When I'm Hokage I'll make sure you get paid in ramen sensei!" For some reason, the Chunin started laughing. Naruto frowned, getting paid in Ramen should be a dream came true. 

"Well, you do that Naruto. In any way, the reason I asked you to wait is that you are dismissed for the day." Naruto frowned. Did he do something wrong? "I'm sorry. But we're going to write down family trees today. It's part of the curriculum so students can understand all political and physical traits they inherited." 

Naruto felt his heart drop. Iruka was dismissing him because he had no family. 

"You're welcome to stay," He said with an apologetic smile, but the blonde cut him off. 

"No sensei," The thought of spending time watching his classmates write family trees made him sick "It's fine!" Naruto gave Iruka a forced smile "I need to work on that tree stuff anyway if I want to beat the bastard" Iruka sensei nodded, but his smile was sad.

"Keep up the hard work Naruto-kun! I'll meet you later for dinner."

Naruto sat on a swing watching the academy. There was no point in feeling sad. It's not as if something in his situation worsened. Crying about it would change nothing, and he had made that decision long ago. 

Before he could continue to convince himself of that, a noise made him turn his head to the left. Sasuke was standing at his side, facing away from the academy but not quite looking at him. 

"Aren't you suppose to be in class?"

"Uchiha family tree is on the academy textbook. And there isn't much point in writing the rest down" That's right. Like him, Sasuke was alone.

"You're not supposed to skip class" The blonde rolled his eyes.

"Sensei let me go. You can ask him." Naruto gazed at the sky "I don't even know my parent's names. Uzumaki likely is a random surname. So there is nothing for me to do in class today." 

He looked at Sasuke to find the Uchiha staring back at him.  
Normally, they would already be insulting each other. 

"... let''s go. We need to learn tree walking." 

Something eased in Naruto's chest as he stood up.

* * *

One of the things Naruto liked about spending time with Shikamaru was the fact that the other boy felt no need for productiveness. The blonde always had an energetic personality, but around the Nara, he somehow calmed down. 

Approaching the end of the month, a lot in his life and routine had changed. Three weeks and a half were not that long, but it felt like much more time passed. Naruto didn't notice that he hadn't really hang out with Shikamaru until he found himself sitting down with him and Chouji under a tree in break time. 

"I didn't predict you and Sasuke would get along," the Nara said, not taking his eyes from the sky. Chouji was happily eating crisps, and Naruto played with the grass. 

"We don't!" He defended, but his resolve weakened. That wasn't true, and he knew it. "He's a bastard. But like... he's not a completely terrible bastard, you know?"

"He looks scary tho" Choji commented, and Naruto snorted remembering Sasuke's face every time he had to prepare meat on their Saturday hunts. 

"He does not." 

"It's interesting," Shika spoke, closing his eyes "This entire situation with the three of you. It makes me wonder about many things."

"You think too much" Naruto countered 

"Thinking is the Nara Clan's job in this Village." 

Naruto tilted his head, he knew a bit about the entire clan stuff in Konoha now, and he knew Shikamaru was right. 

"Well, when I'm Hokage you can do the thinking for me then" His friend smirked and closed his eyes, and Naruto decided to fall back on the floor and watch the clouds too. 

"This one sort of looks like a bunny..." He commented.

"It does," Chouji answered "A pregnant bunny." 

"Bunnies get pregnant?" Naruto asked, stunned. 

"... they do. And they get pregnant all the time."

"Wow" Naruto decided to ask Sakura later why bunnies got pregnant more than other humans. He was just about to voice this idea when Shika spoke again. 

"Mizuki sensei has been behaving out of character" The blonde frowned, he didn't usually pay much attention to the chunin 

"How so?" Chouji asked as he chewed on a chip

"If you put a rock on a full glass" Shikamaru opened his eyes "It floods." 

There was a silence and then... Naruto and Chouji burst out laughing. 

"What does that even mean?" He asked Shika, who just sighed. 

* * *

"This is much better Naruto," Kakashi sensei said as Naruto ran through his katas with a leaf stuck in his forehead. He knew that one month was too long to manage this exercise, but the Hatake's praise made him warm up inside anyway. Naruto wasn't a chakra control freak like Sakura-chan, but he was starting to manage it.   
"

After you and Sasuke complete tree walking, I have a new thing to teach you" The blonde perked up at that. Both Sakura and Sasuke were learning new stuff already, while he was stuck with Taijutso and these boring exercises. 

"What is it?" 

"It's called Kage bushing. It's a clone technique" Just like that, all the excitement left his body. Naruto was terrible at bushing. "Don't make this face, I promise you will be good at it." 

"I don't want to do stupid clones senseiiiii" He complained as he ran through the final movement of his kata and left his leaf fall. 

"I promise you will like this one. I even had to get special permission to teach it to you. You'll have to sign a term that promises not to teach this to anyone else without strict permission of the Hokage."

"Why?" Naruto was confused, they learned how to create clones at the academy, no special permission needed. 

"You will see. Focus on tree walking for now."

Naruto rolled his eyes but nodded as Kakashi eye smiled and sat down on the floor. 

"Came on, let's take a break. I need to talk with you about something." 

"Okay..."

"I noticed you invite Sakura on dates often, how does she answer?"

"... she says no" Naruto admitted "But..."

"No buts." The Hatake cut him off "If someone like... Sasuke asked you on a date..."

"GROSS" 

"... and you said no, how would you feel if they kept asking you?" 

"oh"

"Everything that happens after no is sexual harassment Naruto."

"What's sexual harassmenent?"

" _Harassmen_ t." Kakashi corrected "In its sexual form, it's a way of violence. When someone keeps pursuing an onesided interest in another person while it is clear that those advances are not welcomed." 

Naruto was confused. Violence? he never wanted to hurt Sakura-chan.

"But how am I suppose to tell her I like her then?"

"You already did say that, and asked her out. She knows how you feel, and if her position changes, she'll go to you. In those situations, is better to move on." 

Naruto looked away but nodded slowly. 

"I'm planning on talking with Sakura too about this. Right now, you're young enough that it's not that serious, but this is something you must learn." 

"I got it sensei!" Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair 

"Is too early for you to be dating anyway."

"What you even know about dating?" 

I'll have you know, that I'm not single" Naruto blinked. 

"WHAT?" He stood up and pointed at Kakashi "Who would date a pervert like you?" 

His teacher laughed, and eye smiled "Indeed, Naruto-kun." 

"What does that even mean?" Naruto asked annoyed "Who is she? Is she pretty?" 

"He" Kakashi corrected "And yes"

"... I think you are reading the wrong type of porn sensei"

Kakashi stood up from the ground and eye smiled "This isn't porn, it's art."

Naruto groaned. 

* * *

"This is correct," Sakura-chan said, smiling at him. She had decided to pull Naruto in an extra studying section in preparation for their exam on Monday. So they headed to the library after Saturday's hunt/lunch. 

"Yay! Just you wait Sakura-cham, I'm going to crash this exam!" she laughed. 

"I'm still worried about you don't understanding all the questions." She sighed "Maybe we should go over the keywords again." Naruto groaned 

"Sakuraaaaaa-chan! We have been doing this for the entire day." 

"It has only been one hour Naruto" She answered as he let his head hit the table. 

"And I already feel my brain melting" Sakura laughed. 

"I suppose one extra studying section won't do any miracles."   
Naruto grinned. 

"We could go get some Dango" he offered "Ayame-chan gave me a coupon for two sticks" He watched Sakura bit her lip and interrupted her refusal. 

"Not as a date or anything like that. Just as...." He looked down. Naruto wanted to say the word friend. Were they friends? Would Sakura be offended at that idea? "... a thank you. For your help." 

She narrowed her eyes "You understand it's not a date?"

"Yes," he nodded "I'm sorry for... you know... asking you out so much" He scratched the back of his head looking away. 

"It's... fine. I did that too... with Sasuke-kun" she bit her lips "Maybe sensei is right, we are too young for this entire dating thing."

Naruto shot up suddenly, making Sakura's eyes widen. 

"KAKASHI-SENSEI HAS A BOYFRIEND" 

"SSHHHHH" Someone on another table said, and they both ducked their heads. 

"What do you mean he has a boyfriend?" She asked, "He's... Kakashi-sensei!"

"Yes, thank you! He told me. And a guy too. He spends the day reading about naked woman" She rolled her green eyes. 

"Naruto, he could be bisexual or pansexual. Having a boyfriend doesn't make him automatically gay." 

The blonde blinked. "Okay. But sensei dating? That's weird" Sakura nodded. 

"He's lazy, perverted, and old. Who would date him?" They exchanged a look and giggled. 

People in the library started giving the two annoyed looks, so Sakura stood and started putting her things away. 

"Come on" She smiled "You promised me Dango." 

* * *

Sunday afternoon found Naruto taking care of his plants. Someday, he wanted to have a real garden where he could plant different things and grow some flowers. Now, he only had his potted plants, but they were enough. 

Perhaps sometime ... if things kept being nice between him Sakura and Sasuke, he could give them a plant too. His eyes moved to the little one he was growing to Kakashi-sensei. A thank you for all his help. 

"Mr. Ukke would be a good name for you," he told the plant "I'm sure sensei will take good care of you!" 

The plant didn't answer, of course, but Naruto nodded to it as if it had. 

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all are having a nice week! Reviews are always welcome <3


	6. The third month of Genma's recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How are you feeling, Genma?

**Genma** sighed. He had only just entered the fourth month of his recovery and felt like shit. The jounin spent most of those months indoors and was just now starting to walk around the apartment alone. 

Slowly, he stood up from his and Kakashi's bed and began to make his way to the living room. Raido was the one who would make him some company during the afternoon, and Genma could use some time sitting down. 

Despite his improvement and the many physical therapy sections he had been doing, putting weight on his left leg was still painful. So Genma slowly entered the living room, feeling his mood worsen with each step.

It felt terrible not being able to go from one room to the other without feeling pain.   
When he finally sat down on the sofa, Genma regretted leaving the bedroom, as his head started to hurt. They were in the process of reducing his pain medication, and apparently, they reduced it a bit too much. 

Genma took his senbon out of his mouth and lightly pressed a point in his left ear with it. Slowly his shoulders relaxed, and a bit of his headache eased. 

He had just placed the weapon back between his teeth when the door opened, and Raido walked inside with his usual lazy posture. 

"Yo" 

"Hi" he answered as his friend took out his shoes and walking inside, taking a sit by him on the sofa. 

"You look in a good mood" He teased, and Genma sighed. 

"I'm fine, just some headache" Raido frowned.

"Do you want some medicine?"

"Already took it" Genma answered closing his eyes "Not working."

"Do you want me to make some Ginger tea? It will help"

"Please," Genma answered, trying to ignore his annoyance. What he wanted was to be left alone. But he knew Raido was not to blame for his mood or his headache. 

The tea did help a bit, but his mood was still terrible. So he asked Raido to help him back to his room and tried to close his eyes. His friend seemed to sense his bad mood because he made his way back to the living room and only popped back in half an hour later with more tea. 

"How do you feel?" 

"Like shit" Genma answered without opening his eyes.

"Come on, I have some more tea for you." Groaning, he let Raido help him sit down. The other man had more tea and a banana for him. 

"I'm not hungry" Genma complained. 

"If you don't eat, your head will only get worse," Raido answered, making him sigh. 

"Fine."

"Do you want me to stay until Kakashi gets back?" 

Genma took a bite of the banana "No... You can go, I'll be fine. Honest, just want to lay down in the dark now."

"You want help with anything before I go? Bathroom?"

"I'm fine. Thank you, Raido."

His friend waited until he finished the banana and the tea before bringing a glass of water to him and making his goodbyes. Kakashi would be home in about one hour anyway. 

* * *

Genma heard the noise of the door opening but didn't move from his position on the bed. 

"Hello," Kakashi greeted "How do you feel?"

"Like shit" Genma answered "My head hurts, so does my leg"

"Have you eaten?"

"A banana."

"Maybe we should have dinner..."

"No"

"Not eating won't make you feel better"

"I said no" Genma snapped, opening his eyes. 

"Gen..."

"I just want to get some rest." Kakashi sighed but nodded and left the room 

He tried to ignore the sightly sting of guilt he was feeling for snapping at Kakashi. He knew it wasn't fair. Time passed, with Genma trying to fall asleep. Until his silence was again interrupted by Kakashi, who walked in and carefully took a seat on the bed. 

  
"I have some pain medicine for you. I went to the hospital and talked with the doctor, she said it's an effect of the change in your medication. They want us to head there tomorrow for a consult, but have me some pain relief for today." Genma opened his eyes slowly 

"Thank you." 

His boyfriend helped him to sit up and gave him two pills and a glass of water that he drank dry. 

"Do you want me to stay or leave?" Kakashi asked, his voice soft.

His boyfriend's arm was still around his shoulder, so Genma just buried his face on the Hatake's shoulder. The younger man chuckled and laid them both down, Genma's head was now on his chest.   
Taking a deep breath, he felt his muscles relax. There was something wet on his face, and oh... he was crying. Kakashi seemed to have realized that with him, and a warm hand found his cheek. 

"Hey, what's wrong? Is the pain worse?" He shook his head. 

"I'm just frustrated." Kakashi hugged him closer to his chest. 

"You can cry, it's fine. Maybe we need to find a way for you to get out of the apartment some time."

"Maybe" Genma answered, "I just want to sleep, to be honest."

"We can do that." 

* * *

"Let me get this straight" Genma said laughing "You and Anko went camping in the forbidden forest."

"Yes yes," Raido interrupted "Stop laughing already!"

"You are so whipped" He continued "I don't think anyone would volunteer to take a walk there, much less go camping."

"Whatever. It was... interesting. Anko knows the place well."

"So she protected you then?" 

Raido sighed "You are the worst best friend ever."

Genma just grinned. They were both in the living room, drinking some tea and snacking on biscuits. 

"On that note," Raido stood "I'm heading out. Boy-toy will be here soon."

"He's not my boy-toy." 

"I beg to differ," Kakashi's voice spoke, making them both jump "I'm a boy and you toy with my..."

"Kakashi" Genma warned 

"...hair all the time."

"Where did you even came from?" Raido complained 

"Got to stay vigilant little Kohai!" 

"... I'm older than you, Hatake" Raido answered, annoyed. 

"I'm still your sempai on the corps. Isn't that great?" 

"I'm leaving now," His friend said rolling his eyes and Genma laughed. He turned to Kakashi then.

"You're home early"

"Naruto and Sasuke mastered tree walking. Sent them home early to celebrate" His boyfriend answered lowering his mask and leaning in to kiss Genma. He melted into the kiss and smiled when Kakashi pulled away and laid down on the sofa, head on his lap. Genma started to run his hands through silver hair. 

"The kids are doing fine then?"

"Yes. I'm planning on teaching Naruto Kage bushing this month. Imagine that, pre-genin and mastering a forbidden Jutsu. Not bad to the dead last."

"Only you would even consider teaching him that Kakashi."

"It is perfect for him" Kakashi countered "He has the chakra to use it terrifyingly."

"Soon we'll have several Naruto's dressed in orange and shouting about his dream of becoming Hokage around the village then"

"... maybe I didn't think this through" 

Genma laughed 

"In any way, there is still some daylight. I was thinking, we could go outside a bit."

"I'm not sure I can walk that much..."

"I... could carry you" Something felt heavy on Genma's chest. 

"Not sure I want everyone to see me being carried around like a sack of potatoes." 

"No one would think any different of you, but we could go to that forest near the grounds. I'll be able to tell if someone is approaching."

"Why this all of the sudden?"

"We talked about this last week" Kakashi stood up from his lap and took one of Genma's hands "it will do you good to get out of the house for a while."

"Fine, but I don't want to see people." The silver-haired man smiled and pulled his mask up. 

Kakashi and Genma sat down on a clearing, a blanket on the ground and a ball of chips between them. They talked about everything and nothing, and for the first time since he woke up at the hospital, Genma felt like himself again. 

* * *

"Your progress is going well," His doctor said, "But you need some sun exposure. I understand Kakashi-san is available to help you with that?"

"Yes. He's actually waiting for me outside." 

"Oh! I will call him in then!" Genma nodded and waited a few minutes. Kakashi entered behind the doctor and went to stand behind him with a hand on his shoulder. 

"I was asking Genma if you would be available to take him somewhere he can get some sun." 

"Of course!"

"Perfect."

"Yes, doc!" 

"I'm also happy you're here Hatake-san. I understand you're the one that recommended Haruno Sakura to the pre-medical program?"

"Yes, she's my student"

"Haruno-san is a very bright young girl," She started "They contacted our program and recommended we accept her earlier."

"That's good news. You would accept her as a trainee while she's still at the academy? Because Sakura is a frontline fighter. She's not dropping out of the shinobi program to come to the hospital."

"You sound sure."

"I am."

"We thought we would have her came in with a similar timetable she has now on pre-med and go from there. That is, you think she can handle it?"

"She can definitely handle it."

"I'll let them know." 

Genma smiled, Kakashi was getting more and more involved with these kids. It was sweet. 

* * *

"You won a plant" Genma confirmed, watching Kakashi's face amused. 

"Called Mr. Ukki, yes."

"Do you even know how to take care of a plant?"

"Water every day?" Genma burst out laughing.

"Not this one. Water three times every week"

"Okay. That's easy enough."

"And put it on the sun a few times a week too." 

Kakashi sighed at that. "If this plant dies, Naruto will never forgive me."

"Don't worry. I'll help you take care of it."

Kakashi smiled and kissed Genma's shoulder. "Thank you."

He shook his head amused at his boyfriend's antics. Kakashi was the genius of their generation, one of the best ninja to ever exist, and was not able to take care of a potted plant. Genma knew many people who found his boyfriend sexy or handsome, but Genma might be the only alive person to find Kakashi cute. 

"You know," Genma said, "I've been meaning to ask, what does a guy needs to do to take you on a date?"

"The first thing he needs is to be my cute boyfriend."

"Check that!" Genma said smiling and approaching his face to Kakashi's. 

"The second is to give me a kiss" He shook his head a bit and touched lips with his boyfriend in a sweet kiss.

"The third is to be healthy enough to leave the house" Genma rolled his eyes. 

"I was thinking take out, and we could light up one or two candles."

"How romantic," Kakashi said, "I would love to." 

Genma smiled warmly at him "Does tomorrow work?"

"It's perfect."

* * *

Genma watched himself in the mirror, his clothes were still loose on him, he had yet to win back all the weight he lost. But, he had cleaned up nice enough. A light green shirt that he knew his boyfriend liked on him, black uniform pants, and his hair completely free around his face. There were no bruises on his features anymore and his senbon needle rested between his lips. 

He sighed and walked slowly out of the bathroom. This was the first time he had showed and dressed with no help. The entire process was a bit painful and took a long time, but he insisted. It would break the effect of the date if Kakashi had to dress him for it, after all. 

"Looking good" Genma smirked and turned his head to meet Kakashi's eye. His boyfriend was dressed in a dark blue shirt and black pants. His silver hair kept back with a tiara and Sharingan covered. 

"You look amazing" The Hatake approached to peck his lips, but Genma followed him and deepened into a full kiss. 

"Well, hello darling!" Kakashi said when they parted, and Genma smiled, accepting the hand around his waist so he could be helped into the kitchen. 

They laughed and flirted with each other the entire time, eventually ending up on the couch, Kakashi's head on Genma's lap as he ran his hand through silver hair. 

"I was thinking" Kakashi started "Since the doctor said you need some sun, maybe you could sit with me as I teach the kids water walking?" 

"Water walking already?" His boyfriend smiled 

"Naruto needs all the chakra control he can get, and Sakura could use it too if she's going into the medical field."

"Are you sure you want me to meet them?" It was unlike Kakashi, the other man usually was very private. 

"It would be good for Sasuke, I think." Genma narrowed his eyes. He could tell the Hatake was hiding a deeper reason for this. However, he trusted Kakashi and knew that he wouldn't be pressured into admitting anything. 

"When are you thinking of doing this?"

"Thursday? Aoba had that change of shift. I was going to ask Gei to come by but..."

"Yeah, let's not do the entire staying in a small apartment with Gai thing"

"Thought so"

"You know, there is no need to have people checking on me on the afternoons" 

His boyfriend sighed "We talked about this Gen. You're not well enough yet and it's good for you to see other people" A familiar rush of annoyance ran through him and he stopped his attentions to Kakashi's hair

"I don't want to be the village's charity case Kakashi"

"You're not. And you know that" He sat up to look Genma in the eyes. "You got hurt, and you need help to heal. That's all there is to it" 

He nodded deciding to drop the matter. They had a nice evening and a lovely dinner, there was no reason to ruin that by starting an argument.   
"

So I guess I'm meeting the kids tomorrow" Kakashi held his gaze for an extra second before lying back down. 

"You get to watch Naruto and Sasuke trying not to drown"

He laughed 

* * *

Genma watched amused from his place sitting under a tree as the academy students stared at him. Kakashi had left him alone near the river as he went to pick the three on their meeting spot. 

The only explanation he gave of Genma's presence was that he was a friend who needed to get out more. The bandages on his left leg were under his uniform pants so he looked almost healthy. 

"Yo" He waived lazily and bit the end of his Senbon, making in incline a bit. 

"Don't be rude" His boyfriend said "Introduce yourselves" The three kids glared at him, but did as told. 

"I'm Haruno Sakura" 

"Uzumaki Naruto!" 

"Uchiha Sasuke"

Genma smiled 

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Shimurai Genma" 

"Great!" Kakashi clapped his hands "Now that we're all acquainted, we can start water walking training!" 

Amused, Genma watched as Kakashi gave very little instruction to the three. Sakura managed on her first try, to his surprise. The other two were having more trouble, as his boyfriend had predicted. It was entertaining. 

"You could have helped a bit more," he eventually said to the Hatake 

"I could, but then Sakura wouldn't have to."

He tilted his head and watched as Sasuke held on to Sakura's hand for support as his level of stability changed. Naruto cheered him on from inside the river, having already failed. 

As the afternoon progressed, Genma started to feel tired. He could feel Kakashi's watchful eye on him as his eyes started to drop. Suddenly, he sat down on Genma's left, shoulders touching. Smiling, he left his head rest on the Hatake, and slowly fell asleep. 

Voices woke him. Genma didn't open his eyes but recognized who was speaking. His neck was sore against Kakashi's shoulder, and he wanted a shower. 

"...work on this again on Tuesday." His boyfriend was saying "For now, go home and dry off. Good work Sakura." 

He didn't pay attention to the kid's answers as he slowly opened his eyes, just in time to watch them running off. 

"Hello there," Genma groaned. 

"Take me home Hatake" Kakashi laughed. 

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is doing well! Reviews are always welcomed <3


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